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Glory's Perfect Start Continues National Soccer League - Round
5 Saturday 3rd November 2001 A 2-1 home win for Perth Glory against visitors Sydney Utd saw the table-toppers notch up their fifth win on the trot to leave them with the distinction of being the only National Soccer League team with a 100% record, following a share of the spoils between Brisbane Strikers and the Northern Spirit in a 1-1 draw. The slender margin of victory failed to reflect Glory's superiority and in fairness had the home side had their shooting boots on, or had Sydney Utd goalkeeper John Perosh not been in such fine form the Bravehearts would have been well and truly trounced. A somewhat subdued Glory at first struggled to come to terms with the slippery surface whereas by contrast the visitors seemed to adapt more quickly. Indeed Sydney Utd outplayed and outfought their hosts for long spells to put Glory under a lot of pressure in the first 15 minutes and make a mockery of their table-topping position. Vince Savoca had a spectacular scissors-kick blocked by Craig Deans, then Ivan Zelic headed wide a Kresimir Marusic corner. Once Glory had settled down and recovered their composure, it was their turn to apply a period of sustained pressure. Bobby Despotovski rose to meet a Brad Maloney pin-point accurate corner only to send a glancing header narrowly wide. Then moments later Utd keeper John Perosh pulled off a super save to deny prolific goalscorer Damian Mori, then Perosh palmed away the stinging rebound from Brad Maloney. Glory took the lead in the 27th minute from a well rehearsed set-piece when Michael Santalab was adjudged to have impeded Bobby Despotovski. Rather than shoot direct from the resultant free-kick, Despotovski opted to side-step the ball to his striking partner Damian Mori whose shot which seemed to lack venom, had sufficient pace on it to beat an outstretched Perosh. On the down side for Glory, Scott Miller limped off in the 38th minute with a hamstring injury to be replaced by David Tarka. The youngster had an immediate impact on the game almost getting himself on the scoresheet with a power-packed header that was brilliantly saved by Perosh in goal. Tarka was making his presence felt as he made several impressive runs down the left flank. A nice through ball from Tarka released Brad Maloney, only for Michael Cunico to put behind. With radar like accuracy Maloney's inswinging corner found the hard working Matt Horsley unmarked, the former Wollongong Wolves skipper prodding home through a packed goalmouth to pick up his first goal for his new club. It was just reward for Horsley who had been outstanding for Glory as he tackled with a single minded ferocity, covering acres of ground as he tracked down and dispossessed the opposition. He fully deserved his 47th minute goal and celebrated accordingly down by the corner flag. Damian Mori should have made it 3-0 moments later but blasted over the bar when put clean through with a delightful pass from Matt Horsley. Then Shane Pryce released Matt Horsley down the right, seeing keeper Perosh off his line the Glory man-of-the-match sent over a speculative lob which landed on the roof of the net. To their credit the visitors did not fold once 2-0 down, rather than shut up shop with a defensive barrier Utd tried hard to get back into the game. Marcus Stergiopoulos went close with a fine header that was well saved by Petkovic, then the Glory custodian had to pull off another reflex save from Goran Talevski seconds later. Sydney Utd were rewarded for their persistence when in the dying seconds they managed to pull a goal back in controversial circumstances in injury time. A blistering shot from Ante Milicic bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and back into play. The rebound was hastily grabbed by Glory keeper Petkovic as Commins Menapi challenged. Referee Mathew Breeze spotted an infringement by Menapi and awarded a free-kick to Glory only to see assistant referee Michael Klaver attract his attention. After consultation, Milicic's shot which had Petkovic well beaten was adjudged to have crossed the line and the goal was given. When coach Mich d'Avray was asked afterwards what he thought about David Tarka's contribution to the game, he replied, "When you get a youngster like David Tarka come on he comes in and plays with no hang-ups. He goes out there and enjoys himself and I thought he was superb actually. He was nice and comfortable, composed on the ball likes to go forward and he really slotted in well. You would not have thought it was his first NSL game the way he played tonight."
National Soccer League - Round 5 Saturday 3rd November 2001 at Perth Oval
Crowd: 12,975 MATCH STATS: PERTH
GLORY
:1 Jason Petkovic (gk), 2 Matthew Horsley (17 Gary
Faria 91'+), 3 Jamie Harnwell, 5 Craig Deans, 7 Scott Miller (23 David
Tarka 38'), 8 Brad Maloney, 10 Bobby Despotovski (9 Alistair Edwards
87'), 11 Michael Garcia, 15 Edgar Aldrighi Junior, 16 Damian Mori,
18 Shane Pryce Yellow Cards:
Nil SYDNEY
UNITED
: 20 John Perosh (gk), 2 Michael Santalab,
3 Vince Savoca, 6 Michael Cunico, 7 Kresimir Marusic, 10 Ante Milicic,
13 Ante Deur, 17 Paul Bilokapic (11 Zeljko Kopic 57'), 24 Marcus Stergiopoulos,
25 Jon Angelucci (16 Commins Menapi 75'), 26 Ivan Zelic (14 Goran
Talevski 57') Yellow Cards:
M Cunico 22' Referee: Matthew Breeze Pitch: 7/10 Game rating: 6/10 Best Players : 3 Matt Horsley
(Glory) Match Report byJohn Mason TEAM STATS
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